Hurricane Irma recently pummeled Florida with high winds and record breaking storm surges, but that didn’t dampen the spirits of Team Eco!

On Sunday September 10th, in the wee hours of the morning, hurricane Irma made landfall as a massive category 4 hurricane in the lower keys of Florida bringing winds up to 130 miles per hour and threatening dangerous storm surges, before barreling up the western coast and heading straight for Jacksonville. When news of the looming threat came, our team began filling sandbags to help stop flooding waters from entering our warehouse.

Team Eco filling up sandbags the day before the storm.

Owners Michael and Annie Murphy evacuated their own home which is situated in a flood zone, and brought their food, belongings and good spirits to hunker down inside the warehouse, which already doubles as their second home.

Eco Relics owner Annie Murphy cooking some bacon while hunkered down during the storm.

The day after the storm had barreled though Jacksonville, some of the guys from Eco jumped into action. Nate Yewell, Billy Leeka, Parker Burrer and a group of their friends loaded up Nate’s canoe and headed for Downtown Jacksonville to assess the damage.

Nate and the Eco Vikings loading up their crafty vessel for it’s maiden voyage.

Now dubbed the ‘Eco Vikings’, Nate and his crew paddled their way through the flooded streets of Downtown Jacksonville assessing the damage that had been caused by Irma’s record breaking storm surge.

The Eco Vikings making their way down flooded Bay Street in Downtown Jacksonville.

“Officials called the flooding “epic” and “historic,” with the river through this city of nearly 900,000 hitting levels not seen since 1846 — a year after Florida became a state.” The Washington Post.”

Parker and Billy making their way down another flood street in Downtown Jacksonville.

“Although the storm was transitioning from a weak Category 2 into a tropical storm as its outer bands moved through Northeast Florida, a confluence of other weather patterns — including a weekend nor’easter that pushed water into the St. Johns River and dumped rain on the area — caused a Category 3-level storm surge. The Florida Times Union.”

Nate Yewell leading the way through the flooded streets of Downtown Jacksonville.

The flooding could continue for about a week as the storm surge persists and tides rise and fall, with upstream water trying to flow back into the ocean, authorities said. But Eco Relics was very fortunate to have not suffered any major damage, nor did any of our employees. We’re open for business, our spirits are high, and the ‘Vikings’ will ride again!

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